Date toured: May 2007

At first glance, I thought the 78-foot Mr. White was a well-kept classic yacht. As it turns out, this motoryacht is darn-near brand new, built in 2006 to look like a design from the 1960s. She’s one of only three yachts of her kind built so far by the Italian shipyard Benetti, and of those three, the only one with a white hull. Hence the name Mr. White, which, now that you know the boat’s history, seems perfectly sophisticated in and of itself, kind of like a silk bow-tie at a modern-day dinner party.
For the most part, the designers held true to the classic look both inside and out. There are cabins for eight guests (or ten if you use the bunk-style Pullman berths). I thought the cabins with twin-size beds—much as onboard older yachts—were sized more for children than for adults. The master cabin was nice for adults, though it has a double bed instead of the queens and kings more commonly found on new designs today.
Benetti did update some things in this yacht’s design, such as adding overhead track lighting throughout the boat to increase the amount of interior light. One problem with older designs is that the cabins often have small windows, or none at all. Mr. White’s cabins are similar, but with the modern lighting, they feel much less claustrophobic. It’s a nice way to keep the classic feeling while improving on the interior ambience.
The yacht’s stewardess told me that Mr. White plans to spend winters in Italy and summers in Croatia and Greece beginning in 2008. Her lowest weekly base rate is 32,000 euros plus expenses, or about 4,000 euros per person if you pack people in using the Pullman berths.
Mr. White is part of the fleet at Rigo Yachts International. Contact any reputable charter broker for booking information.—Kim Kavin